Author Archives: Emily

Booze In The Blue Ridges

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Adam and I had a really fun weekend exploring some of the towns around C-ville.  Primarily we checked out Crozet and Waynesboro, both spots that are known for having fantastic breweries and wineries.

Highlights included – learning that while I dislike IPAs it turns out I adore double IPAs (especially the two at Pro Re Nata) // discovering Wild Wolf‘s super smoky Scottish ale // playing ping pong and skee-ball at Basic City // sipping espresso blended with sweetened condensed milk and mocha at Farm Haus

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Maple – Marshmallow – Cinnamon – Pumpkin

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The flavors in my title were mostly enjoyed separately this week, but my goodness wouldn’t they be good all together?!

I missed last weekend’s post because I was out of town at a Nutrition Support conference.

Highlights from this week included…

A new all-time favorite coffee combo – Grady’s Cold Brew Concentrate with maple sweetened condensed milk!!  P.S. Grady’s is the best home-brewed coffee that money can buy.  P.P.S. The maple SCM is not to be missed either, if you spot it at your store I recommend buying multiple cans.

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Pumpkin power homemade trail mix.  Pumpkin Puffins / Pumpkin Pie White Chocolate M&M’s / roasted pumpkin seeds / pecans.

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A cookie and coffee date at Sweethaus.

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Pumpkin & Spice Siggi’s yogurt topped with Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes.

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New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin beer.  It was cinnamon-spicy and quite enjoyable.

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This month’s Snack Crate.

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Homemade basil turkey burgers with roasted green beans and TJ’s root vegetable medley.  I burnt the burgers just a little but I covered it up with ketchup and mayo.

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Green curry bowls.  Cauliflower rice cooked with coconut milk topped with ground turkey, onion, shredded carrot, green bell pepper, zucchini, and basil sauteed with green curry sauce.

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Pumpkin Everywhere

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It was a good week for pumpkin; I snuck it into my coffee, smoothie, pasta, beer, and nachos!  Highlights from the week included…

La Colombe Pumpkin Spice Draft Latte.

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Homemade salted maple cold foam coffee.

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Pumpkin pie smoothie.  Pumpkin puree, plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, maple syrup, clove, and skim milk.  Pumpkin smoothies end up basically being puddings!

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Homemade fall flavors trail mix with Maple Cheerios, raisins, salted peanuts, and yogurt covered peanuts.  Plus a SweeTango apple.

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Adam and I went on a date to try the new Cannoli Bar.  Cannolis aren’t really my thing, but our bicerin – that’s drinking chocolate with espresso and frothed half and half – knocked my socks off.

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Whole Foods hot bar.  Including coconut chicken tenders, furikake fried tofu, horseradish and scallion cauliflower, vegan curry, plus an assortment of other veggies.

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This cheesy veggie bowl was one of my favorite dinners I’ve made all year.  Roasted broccoli / roasted potatoes (cooked similarly to this recipe) / topped with a take on vegetarian queso fundido – sharp cheddar, sour cream, green onion, yellow onion, serrano pepper, and Trader Joe’s vegan chorizo.  I enjoyed this so much I ended up eating my entire bowl followed by most of Adam’s!

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Pumpkin nacho night!  Trader Joe’s pumpkin tortilla chips baked with green onion, yellow, onion, sharp cheddar, and maple chicken sausage.  Then topped with copious amounts of Cholula and sour cream.  Plus roasted broccoli on the side.

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Pumpkin on pumpkin on pumpkin dinner.

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Trader Joe’s pumpkin pasta tossed with a sauce made of pumpkin puree, sour cream, shallots, spices, sage, maple chicken sausage, soyrizo, and parmesan cheese.

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Plus pumpkin beers.  I thought the AleWerks pumpkin ale was too sweet (though Adam was a big fan) but really enjoyed the Punkin Ale from Dogfish Head.

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Pumpkin purchase recommendations?  All of it!  Every product (and recipe) was delicious.  The La Colombe and AleWerks items weren’t quite to my taste, but Adam enjoyed them both so I can’t say I wouldn’t recommend trying them yourself.

1st Week Of Pumpkin Month

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It’s Pumpkin Month!  Check out this year’s stash –

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Here is some of the gourdy goodness I’ve eaten so far…

Pumpkin milk iced coffee.

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Chobani pumpkin with maple Cheerios.

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Trader Joe’s pumpkin yogurt with Justin’s maple cashew butter, plus a rave apple and a chocolate chip cookie.

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Other tasty things from the past week include…

Duck confit hash from Farm Bell Kitchen.

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Mexican candy with guava paste and dulce de leche.

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Grapefruit yogurt drink with mango jelly and popping grape boba.

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Vietnamese caramel chicken with jasmine rice and sauteed bok choy and shredded carrot.

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Shrimp fried rice, cooked on a sheet pan.  <– this is such a fantastic idea!  We will definitely use this method again

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Spinach and artichoke chicken (similar to this recipe) with roasted cauliflower.

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Engaging Eats

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It was an exciting weekend, two of our favorite people came to visit us – and got engaged while they were here!  We loved being a part of their special day, and also enjoyed a winery tour, stumbling into the Tom Tom Festival, and staying up far too late.  I mostly took photos of people, but here were five highlights of what I ate…

{1}  Coffee from Sweethaus.  Quad / nonfat / iced / latte / with vanilla and mint.

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{2}  Brunch at Junction.  I had the Huevos Rancheros – crispy corn tortillas topped with refried beans, cotija cheese, fresh avocado, salsa, and 2 fried local eggs.  Plus the Jungle Cat – Vida Mezcal, Campari, pineapple, lime, and Caribbean jerk spiced cane syrup.

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{3}  Lunch at Smoked in Crozet.  We could not believe how good this place was!  I had smoked turkey, fried chicken, cole slaw, and smoked jalopeno creamed corn.  The cream corn was my favorite side dish of all time!

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{4}  I did not take a picture, but I still have to mention how delicious the fried chicken sandwich at The Fitzroy is.  3/4 of us ordered it for dinner and all of us basically swooned over it.

{5}  It was a coworker’s birthday this weekend so I am bringing in the best ever chocolate chip cookies and I ate copious amounts of dough as I worked.

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I am looking forward to eating a baked cookie with lunch today!

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Flavors Of Fall

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Next week is the start of Pumpkin Month!!  But first, here’s a collection of “fall flavored” things –

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The maple Mars bar was a disappointment.  (Mom, sorry, it came as part of a Snack Crate, I cannot get you one).

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But the pecan pie granola was a delight, especially paired with a Trader Joe’s caramel apple Greek yogurt!

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More apple goodness, this Rave variety was crispy and sweet.

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And in other packaged goods new, I obsessively searched for this Oreo coffee creamer for the past 2 months before I finally got my hands on it.  <– worth it

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Pimento cheese and crackers at Grit.

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I put leftover bbq chicken on a yummy salad.  With butter lettuce, honey mustard dressing, cashews, and cucumber.

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This frozen meal from Trader Joe’s remains the best chile relleno of my life.

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My in-laws were in town a few days this week and we had a great time seeing them.  Including a trip to Asian buffet.  I had really tasty seaweed salad and the best egg tart I’ve ever eaten.  Here were my fist and last plates (with several in between!).

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Frozen And Frothed

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Top five from the weekend…

{1}  A variety of fancied coffees.

This combo is still rocking my socks off.

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I made a frozen coffee at home in the blender.

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And had a much more successful frozen granita at the farmer’s market.

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Plus a latte from Snowing in Space with nitro draft espresso!

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{2}  A birthday cake pop-tart from Wonderment.

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{3}  Cupcakes and coffee at Sweethaus.

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I had a quad iced latte and a cookies and cream cupcake with Oreo pieces baked inside it.

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{4}  Best brunch in Virginia at Junction.

I had chicken and waffles with habenero maple syrup.

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Plus we want to go back and try every cocktail on the menu!  The Paloma was out of this world – blanco tequila, Aperol, salted grapefruit cordial, lime.

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{5}  We made fantastic bbq chicken sandwiches.  Chicken roasted with paprika (cooked like this) then brushed with bbq sauce (Stubbs but mixed with butter, honey, and Sriracha) served on a bun with smoked cheddar and Kewpie mayo.  Plus roasted green beans.

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Have a great week!

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